Fellow Nigerians, let me join others in celebrating our
victory in South Africa last Sunday when the Super Eagles performed the miracle
of Jericho by collapsing the wall of Burkina Faso. It would have been a
monumental disaster if the result had been otherwise. The joy of over 160
million Nigerians and their well-wishers was at stake. The humongous
investments of one man, of the past few years, were also on trial. I shall
return to this shortly.
The crowd of travellers I saw at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport in Lagos on the night before the final was the first
indication of what to expect in Johannesburg. The atmosphere was electrifying
despite the usual smelly heat oozing out of that seemingly jinxed international
airport. The long queue at Immigration and SSS counters were unbearably long,
yet this did not dampen the expectant spirits of Nigerian pilgrims trooping out
to the shrine of football in South Africa. They were joined in supplications to
God to give us this particular victory, this time around, no matter what it
takes. The aircrafts were crammed full like sardine cans. One very big Nigerian
had to squeeze himself into the economy cabin of South Africa Airways. The
mission was that serious.
Landing at the Oliver Tambo International Airport on Sunday
morning of February 10, 2013, was an exhilarating experience. Nigerians
besieged everywhere. Those that were on ground came to welcome those that were
just coming. You would have felt suddenly teleported to Oyingbo or Onitsha
markets the way our people swirled everywhere. The hotels were not different.
In fact, something funny happened. As I checked into my apartment in Radisson
Blu Sandton, I saw chamber maids packing out cartons and cartons of emptied
bottles of assorted champagnes and spirits from the next penthouse suite. Out
of curiosity, I asked if the reveller was a Nigerian and one of the ladies
answered in the affirmative. I was not surprised. None other than a Nigerian
would start a victory celebration 24 long hours before the match even started.
On the way to the stadium, the traffic build-up was
horrendous. Nigerians seized the opportunity to make their presence felt.
Nigerian music exploded from many vehicles crawling towards the biggest game in
town. Some of the drivers had their horns blaring without care. It was our
freedom day, and the South African Police gave us full liberty to misbehave as
much as possible. It was a day the whole of Africa bowed to the supremacy of
Nigeria without argument or controversy. Not many people day-dreamed about
Burkina Faso beating us. The cup was ours to lift, no matter the palpable
tension that one could almost slice with blade.
The sacrifice made by supporters was unthinkable and beyond
imagination. Most of them trekked several kilometres to get to the stadium.
Making Nigeria proud was a task that had to be done. And our people left no
stone unturned to accomplish this. Those who could not purchase tickets at the
official price bought at exorbitant black market rates. VIP and Hospitality
tickets were the hottest cakes and they sold like gold. Complimentary tickets
from CAF were limited and restrictive. Security was water-tight. We had to bow
to the superiority of South Africa in the area of infrastructure. At the
snail-speed Nigerian government loves to operate one began to wonder if our
Rome would ever be built in a thousand years.
Our players entered the field of play with an uncommon
spirit of confidence and concentration. They clearly understood what was at
stake. They played their hearts out like
valiant gladiators and soared like true eagles. It would have been too tragic
for them to disappoint Africa’s biggest nation. The pressure was on them but
they were calm enough to deliver the goods. It was a great match to enjoy. They
won by a lone goal but that was all that was needed to carry the continental
trophy.
The entire world celebrated that goal and the scorer, Sunday
Mba. The social media was agog with the joke behind the goal: “Burkina Faso
said they will deal with us, we said MBA, not on a SUNDAY.” That single shot
fired by a man who loves to score on Sundays ricocheted across the world.
Nigeria got free publicity and immeasurable goodwill from the world media and a
global audience. I felt the impact when our English printers congratulated us all
the way from Enfield and our Yugoslav photographer was running commentaries and
supporting Nigeria on social media. It was as if all our sins of 19 years had
been washed away and we were cleansed and reborn.
I was back in the hotel monitoring comments on Blackberry
and tweeting intermittently when the news broke that the Nigerian Coach, Mr
Stephen Keshi, was on a South African radio announcing his resignation. All the
joy in me instantly evaporated. I tried to put a call through to him and
eventually sent him a text which I expected him to understand as a plea to
reconsider his decision. Later in the night, I was told the energetic Minister
of Sports was holding meetings with him. I had praised the Minister the day
before the match as an effective administrator who has injected some life into
our comatose sports because it is in the nature of Nigerians to accuse and
never remember to acknowledge such contributions.
For me, Sports has been relegated completely in the scheme
of things in Nigeria. It is now the worst Ministry a Minister can be posted. It
is closely followed by the Ministry of Youth Development. Unfortunately for
Mallam Bolaji Ganiyu Abdullahi, he’s been posted to both Ministries in quick
succession. It is like being sent to Siberia but the young man brought colour
to both. One cannot forget that the You Win project was conceptualised and
launched under his stewardship at the Ministry of Youth Development. I was
deeply touched when words filtered in that the Minister had succeeded in
persuading Coach Keshi to sheath his sword. I went to sleep a happy man.
I woke up to the news of the Dollar rain on the Super Eagles
by Nigeria’s uppermost giver, Dr Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Isola Adenuga, the
Chairman of Globalcom who has effectively stepped into the shoes of Chief
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola as the new Pillar of Sports in Africa. Dr
Adenuga’s unprecedented investments in the game of soccer are largely
responsible for the success we are all celebrating today, lest we forget in our
typical fashion of “collective amnesia.” Nigerian soccer took a cataclysmic
dive after Chief Abiola dropped out of circulation at the height of the June 12
crisis. But for the benevolent intervention of the business octopus, Adenuga,
the Nigerian league had become stone dead. Not only did he pump millions of
dollars into it, he put his full might behind the supporters club. Today a lot
of young talents have emerged from the Nigerian league. The GLO-CAF Awards has
become a major boost to the development of soccer in Africa.
I believe Dr Adenuga decided to celebrate the Super Eagles’
win in this superlative manner because the boys did not waste his huge
investments in Nigeria’s favourite game. We must remember to acknowledge other
great Nigerians who donated most generously out of the kindness of their souls,
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr Tony Elumelu, Mr Jim Ovia, as well as Governors
Rotimi Amaechi, Yisa Yuguda, Peter Obi,
Emmanuel Uduaghan, and Babatunde Raji Fashola who gave time and money to
support our heroes.
The Federal Government now has an opportunity to take sports
more seriously. It is now obvious that sports are our greatest unifier as a
nation. No one complained that only an Igbo man scored the winning goal. We did
not hear that Boko Haram complained that most of the players were “Southern
infidels”. No one ever grumbled that our Constitutional injunction on Federal
Character was not obeyed and respected.
As a young student in the mid-60s, Sports was a big deal.
Our inter-house sports were festivals of talents. Like most things Nigerian,
we’ve allowed everything to decay. This Super Eagle victory should, hopefully,
jolt us out of our stupor and galvanise our interest in what can easily and
readily propel many of our youths into prosperity and our nation into greater unity
and emancipation from the shackles of parochialism and wasted opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment